GunBarrel - Trademark or Cliche?

AlphaOmegaSin · December 2012

Seeing as it's been in every Bond Film so far (The Official Eon Films anyway) I feel that it's just a Cliche then a Trademark now, and seeing that the Craig Films have seen it moved to the end. Should they Scrap it completely or mix it up a bit?

DEFIANT 74205 · December 2012

It's a trademark, and it should remain at the very beginning of the film.

Thunderpussy · December 2012

I agree it's a world wide well know Trademark -{
I don't mind if they want to keep it at the end of the movie,
Although I do think is a silly place to put it, and lacks
the excitement of watching it at the begining of the film.

Moore Than · December 2012

The gunbarrel is a Trademark. The most important thing for me is that it is (and should remain) in the films, though I would much prefer it at the beginning.

Agent007jamest · December 2012

It has to be put at the beginning again. Of course it is the franchise trademark. The only thing I found disappointing about Skyfall was that it was still at the end.

Barbel · December 2012

Moore Than wrote:

The gunbarrel is a Trademark. The most important thing for me is that it is (and should remain) in the films, though I would much prefer it at the beginning.

+1.

alphaagent · December 2012

agreed, it was great in casino at the sort of start ecause you didn't expect it. But now it should be returned to the classic format. Here;s hoping for the next one!

minigeff · December 2012

Trademark

Colonel Shatner · December 2012

A trademark which they've messed around with a bit in the last few comparatively recent Craig movies.

Brosnan_fan · December 2012

It's a trademark, and I for one say they should stop fooling around with it and put it at the start of all future Bond films.

Jarvio · December 2012

Trademark

AlphaOmegaSin · December 2012

I wish they would put it back where it belongs.

Ens007 · December 2012

Trademark ... And I don't really care where it is in the film, as long as it sits right & is not just shoe-horned in for the sake of it (or so-called tradition).

Silhouette Man · December 2012

I can't really understand why it's still at the end of the film in Skyfall as he's not a rookie anymore.

Moore Than · December 2012

Silhouette Man wrote:

I can't really inderstand why it's still at the end of the film in Skyfall as he's not a rookie anymore.

Sam Mendes decided not to put the gunbarrel at the beginning of Skyfall because he believed it would not fit alongside the opening shot of Bond walking along the corridor towards the camera. At the end of the film Daniel Craig's Bond has come full circle, he's certainly not the rookie anymore, everything is back in place, M, Moneypenny, Q, so it does make sense. Having said that, let us hope the gunbarrel is back where it belongs in Bond 24.

Silhouette Man · December 2012

Moore Than wrote:

Silhouette Man wrote:

I can't really inderstand why it's still at the end of the film in Skyfall as he's not a rookie anymore.

Sam Mendes decided not to put the gunbarrel at the beginning of Skyfall because he believed it would not fit alongside the opening shot of Bond walking along the corridor towards the camera. At the end of the film Daniel Craig's Bond has come full circle, he's certainly not the rookie anymore, everything is back in place, M, Moneypenny, Q, so it does make sense. Having said that, let us hope the gunbarrel is back where it belongs in Bond 24.

Yes, I suspected as much - thanks for the info!

osris · December 2012

For me, the gun barrel sequence is Bond. To remove it, would be like casting a blond actor with little charm to play him. Something unthinkable.

AlphaOmegaSin · December 2012

osris wrote:

For me, the gun barrel sequence is Bond. To remove it, would be like casting a blond actor with little charm to play him. Something unthinkable.

Oh you {[]

L Jones · December 2012

I've come to the point where I guess I don't care whether they have the gun barrel sequence or not.

lueth2048 · December 2012

Trademark

Theundeadkennedy · December 2012

Trademark

chitoryu12 · January 2013

Trademark, keep it at the beginning. For 40 years, James Bond films began with that iconic shot. It's something irrefutably linked with James Bond, and to remove it from the continuing series (or to mess around with it) shows a lack of understanding as to what the James Bond series is. Keep in mind that the films managed to maintain a distinct styling throughout those 40 years even as times and politics changed: The World Is Not Enough is still recognizable as a modern action film, with all the stylings of the genre, while still including Q, a Bond car, a Bond girl, and gadgets.

I kind of feel like the Craig films are trying too hard to restyle Bond, as if they took the lukewarm reaction to DAD as a sign that the old Bond was dead, rather than considering the faults of that particular film. The audience of the mid-90s that loved Goldeneye isn't much different from the audience today, nor are action films and thrillers.

Nicolas Suszczyk · January 2013

The gunbarrel has to return back to the beginning. It has absolutely no use at the end! The only excuse can barely accept is the CR gunbarrel, nothing more.

BTW, join my cause please!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Say-NEVER-AGAIN-to-the-GUNBARREL-at-the-END/556725624353960?ref=hl

ChromeJob · January 2013

I can't be the ONLY one who saw the first shot of SKYFALL as a sly wink to the gunbarrel motif. Instead of the crawling dots, we simply have a slight staccato beat, and he steps into the blob of light ... and walks towards us. Rather like the first teaser trailers for GOLDENEYE ("You were expecting someone else?"). I saw that AS the typical opening, just done in a very new way. Bravo, Mr. Mendes.

I thought it was great. I almost wish they hadn't had the trademark at the end ... all the intros and crap at the end reminded me of the plodding connect-the-dots nonsense at the end of STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH.

Mr Beech · January 2013

Trademark.

Almost like a director's animated logo for their production company being important for them to include on their own films at the start, it's the mark of Bond's film with a specific actor's era.

Nicolas Suszczyk · January 2013

ChromeJob wrote:

I can't be the ONLY one who saw the first shot of SKYFALL as a sly wink to the gunbarrel motif. Instead of the crawling dots, we simply have a slight staccato beat, and he steps into the blob of light ... and walks towards us.

Yep, it's a wink to the Gunbarrel, but it can NEVER replace the Gunbarrel. There's a special significance to the icon, if it was, as many Bond fans wrongfully think, "an icon of a Bond era", it wouldn't have survived the Connery-Moore transition. There was a reason why it survived until the Pierce Brosnan era, and there was no solid reason (besides CR) to bring it up in another place for the Daniel Craig films.

You can't compare Bond coming up to the light (as good as that might have been for Skyfall) to the unique iconography of the barrel: the dots, the walk, the shoot in every pose you like it (jumping, crouched, on a knee, standing) and of course, the iris dot opening to reveal the first shot of the film.

Thunderbird 2 · January 2013

Silver is hallmarked. The Bond Films are Gunbarrelled. = Trademark!

James Suzuki · January 2013

It's a trademark if it's at the start, if they change, move it etc it will slowly turn into a bored cliche.

GunBarrel - Trademark or Cliche?

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